ICORN is an independent international organisation of member cities and regions, offering safe havens for persecuted writers and artists; advancing freedom of expression, defending democratic values and promoting international solidarity.
More than 70 cities around the globe offer a safe space where writers and artists at risk can live and work freely through the ICORN programme.
Any writer or artist who is threatened or persecuted for expressing their opinions or ideas, through professional and artistic work, can apply for an ICORN residency. Since ICORN’s foundation in 2006, the member cities have hosted more than 200 persecuted writers and artists. They are creative writers, non-fiction writers, journalists, bloggers, musicians, visual artists, cartoonists, editors, translators and publishers.
Solidarity and hospitality
The member cities (at present 3 in Germany; Frankfurt, Hannover, Berlin) are the cornerstones of ICORN and share a common mission: to preserve freedom of expression and to respond to threats and persecution that writers and artists face in their home countries and beyond.
The commitment by ICORN cities is both very concrete and deeply symbolic: one agent for change - a writer or artist - escapes from imminent threats and persecution; the city offers sanctuary; and the values of hospitality, solidarity and freedom of expression become further enshrined within the ethos of the city. Hosting a writer or artist not only helps that individual. It also sends a signal to other writers and artists, and to repressive authorities and persecutors, that there is an alternative to silence.
By joining ICORN, the city becomes part of a dynamic and global network of solidarity and creativity. ICORN connects and cooperates with relevant public and civil society organisations like PEN International and local PEN centres, civil society organisations and public institutions within the fields of human rights, culture, arts and migration, as well as governmental and intergovernmental bodies, locally and internationally.
Stavanger 2006 – Frankfurt 2019
When the International Parliament of Writers and its International Network of Asylum started to dissolve in 2004, The City of Frankfurt were together with the City of Stavanger founding members of a new initiative, ICORN, the International Cities of Refuge Network. On 9 June 2006 ICORN was formally established, with its head quarter in Stavanger, Norway.
13 years ahead, when Norway is 2019 Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair under the title “The Dreams We Carry”, ICORN is pleased to cooperate and take actively part. Current ICORN resident in Stavanger, Iranian cartoonist Ali Dorani (Eaten Fish), exhibits in Frankfurt’s Haus am Dom all through October. In close cooperation with NORLA and the official Norwegian Guest of Honour programme,
ICORN will run a separate international freedom of expression stand and stage at the fair ground. Under the heading “Safe, not Silent”, ICORN writers and artists will perform together with other strong voices and distinguished guests from around the world, every hour throughout the fair.
For more information about ICORN
please visist their webside on icorn.org.